Thursday, January 15, 2009

So we've spent the better part of the weekends for the past month or so house-hunting. We knew that we wanted a house that required minimal work on our part - painting and carpet, or minor repairs, but we didn't want a fixer-upper. We've seen houses and townhouses in every range on the spectrum, and there were some where we would walk in and then just turn right around and leave. Mostly they were in good condition, but some made me wonder if these people really wanted to sell their homes. We saw one house that had potential, but we couldn't really see the house because they had so much junk everywhere. We had walked upstairs to look at the master bedroom and the owner left a pillow or blanket under the comforter that made it look like someone was sleeping.... or dead. I was officially creeped out. Another house we walked in was clearly a fix-n-flip that ran out of money... seriously the walls were half one color and half another. It was like mid-roll, they just decided to stop.

I say all this to say that this past weekend, we found "the one." I loved it... it's cute, not too big, open and inviting.. and in our price range. Richard said he would be happy anywhere and that I'm the more difficult one to please with finding the "right" house, but I know he loved it too. So we made an offer... on Sunday night at like 11pm! That was a rush... and neither of us could really sleep that night. But they countered on Monday morning and it was right where we were hoping to end (okay.. well a little higher, but I didn't want to let it go with a difference of like 2k... really it won't make much difference in the loan) so we accepted and by 3pm on Monday we were under contract :)

What a roller coaster of a Monday .... so I'll leave you with a pic of what we hope will be our house.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

2009 thus far has not been filled the joy that we hoped. Last night, while ringing in the new year with friends, one noticed her boyfriend was not around and his car was gone. When we finally reached him on his phone, he told us he thought he had totaled his car. My friend ran to find him and luckily met up with him at the end of the block... the bad news - his face was bleeding rather heavily and we knew. The saga that followed was not fun, but to sum up, his car was in a ditch, Rich and I took a ride in the back of a police cruiser but it was only to help the officer as we were not in trouble... never the less, a new experience for both of us, and friend's boyfriend was in the ER with the local police looking for him. Thank fully Mom, was kinda enough to come pick Rich and I up since the risk of driving home all after that and 2 drinks wasn't worth it.

I didn't think that we could top that, but later today, we found out that one of Rich's friends from high school killed himself on Christmas. I never met him, but it saddens me. From the little I know, he had just lost his job and with his past, hope of a new job was non-existent. He also had a baby this year with his girlfriend.... and they broke up within the last months. I feel bad for his family and all his friends. Another friend of Rich's from high school is taking this hard. I can only hope that comfort is found for all.

So to all who may read this, I hope your new year is better than our has started. Here's to 2009... well a happy and prosperous 2009. Make sure to eat your black-eyed-peas since they are supposed to bring luck.